Only Yours after Dark
by GhostUndone
Summary: Rei and Minako have been friends—and just friends—for a very long time. So why do they keep meeting each other on hot summer nights when they should be sleeping?
1. Part I

**Only Yours after Dark**

**Summary:**

Rei and Minako have been friends—and just friends—for a very long time. So why do they keep meeting each other on hot summer nights when they should be sleeping?

**A/N: **In this story Minako and Rei are in their 20s. This may remain a one-shot.

**Part I**

Minako was a little tipsy.

She could see Rei casting annoyed glances in her direction, but she hardly cared. She was feeling particularly restless on this Saturday night, and it just so happened to be the night of the Sanno Matsuri festival in Tokyo. The Azabu-Juuban district was modest in its celebration, but Rei was forced to work on behalf of the shrine at a restaurant downtown. She served drinks and offered charms to the customers as they came in for refreshments after participating in the parade of paper-floats. Minako would normally be out with them, frequenting the many booths that had been set up along the sidewalks, but the lure of a dark restaurant where Rei was running around in a fine kimono peaked Minako's curiosity.

And so she sat there at the bar, ignoring the miko's eyes, which were burning into the side of her face, taking drink after drink of sake.

Rei tried her best not to watch her. She wasn't watching her thin wrists dancing as she relayed a story to some sap sitting next to her. She wasn't watching her eyes, which were already alight with the spell of alcohol. She wasn't even watching her fascinating body, which seemed to bend and mold in the shadows of the small restaurant. She was, however, watching her mouth.

There was something about the way Minako was grinning.

Goddamn the line of her jaw.

Goddamn those perfect teeth.

Goddamn, especially, the way her lips seemed to pull into a small pucker whenever she was holding in laughter.

Her grin was fearless and inviting. It could knock anybody to their knees if she tried hard enough. It was gorgeous and dangerous and made Rei think about sucking on peaches in the summer time.

_She couldn't fucking stand it._

Rei knew she was grinning to annoy her. She was flirting with the men at the bar, leaning over them to take delicate drinks from their glasses, casting quick glances in Rei's direction every now and then. And then her melodious laugh would float within ear shot and Rei could feel every inch of her bunch up and tighten, like a pack of wild wolves were about to jump out of her throat and devour the entire room. The tricky blond knew exactly what effect her actions would be having on Rei, which is why she got such enjoyment out of it. Never mind that she was a little drunk and couldn't quite keep her surroundings in focus. It was all just part of the game they played. And Minako was an expert at it.

Rei finally passed the bar, heading back towards the kitchen. She refused to look over at Minako or her skirt—which seemed to curl under her thighs and slide whenever she decided to lean. But once Rei was behind the swinging doors of the kitchen she braved a peek through the thin slice of light between them. The priestess tried to quiet her shallow, ragged breaths as she watched the golden woman at the bar, little pin-pricks of fire starting at the base of her neck and working their way down her arms into her fingers. There was anger there, but there was also something exhausting inside of her. How much longer could Rei keep pretending that this blond vixen didn't eat up all of her resolve? She clenched the rounded serving tray in both hands tightly, feeling the thunderous frustration hammer her into a familiar state of uncertainty.

_Why the hell was Minako here? What right did she have to do this, to come here when Rei was supposed to be working? What right did she have to wear that skirt? Was she loitering here in the hopes they would go home together?  
_

The raven-haired beauty started biting her lip, hating herself for thinking that Minako would be here for her. She had to stop herself from traveling down that path. She had to stop herself before falling.

The night wore on, and Minako was more than a little tipsy now, sipping warm gulps of sake, the rest of the bar now abandoned by her former distraction methods. She was slumped on one elbow, cheeks rosy and her limbs warm, and she was openly watching the miko now. Rei was cleaning up the remaining tables, the long sleeves of her kimono tied up above her elbows as she wiped the surface with a dirty rag. She was tired. She was always tired. She had given up trying to figure out Minako's actions almost an hour ago, and now she had nothing but the hollowed out feeling that graced her late at night. It was the same feeling that often times led her to the cherry blossom tree out behind the shrine when she should be sleeping.

And she had told Minako about this secret spot, despite her better judgment. There was something else there that made her do it. Something pleading. Something.

They had met there a few times this summer, when insomnia had taken them both. Sometimes they would talk. Sometimes they would laugh. But mostly they would be quiet together, the way only two friends who had known each other so long could. And the air around that cherry tree was alive with all the things left unsaid after dark.

Rei stood and surveyed her work, hands on hips and a small ring of sweat lining her neck. There were a few people still lingering, talking in the dim lantern light, but most of them had left at midnight, to catch the trailing ends of the parade. She knew that Minako was still sitting at the bar, legs swinging off of the stool, making the fabric of her short skirt sway. Rei did not know why her irritating friend remained, but she was determined to avoid that question.

She walked up to Minako, finally looking at her close up, hating and loving the way the light caught her unusual golden hair. She caught a brief fragment of that familiar scent as she neared her best friend—something like orange groves and sunlight and warm summer evenings. Minako did not turn to see her, rather finishing the rest of her sake in one gulp and landing the small porcelain cup down in front of her with a definite smack.

"I'm going home now," Rei said, careful not to let hope seep into her tone.

"Okay," was Minako's only reply.

Rei felt the anger then.

It was familiar too, like most of her emotions when it came to the infuriating blond. And it was the type of anger that made Rei's voice tighten, made it hard for her to breath properly, and often times had her awake for hours, brewing and steaming and rolling over the same thoughts again and again.

_Then why the hell did you even come?_

But she wouldn't ask that question. She couldn't. Minako would know how much she affected her if she dared to speak, so she tried her best to shrug, despite the heightened intensity that was roasting her shoulder muscles, clamping down every inch of her neck and arms and back in a stiff, angry posture. And then she turned, throwing her cleaning rag down on one of the empty tables and headed out the door and into the warm night air. She knew where she wanted to go. And she knew some part of her was hoping Minako would follow, but she hated and she abused that part of herself for being so stupid and naive about what to expect.

* * *

Minako was giggling.

She was fingering the high-stone wall to her right, trailing her hand along its rough surface until her fingers tingled. Her limbs were already buzzing with the type of electric energy she always had when she was folded into the fuzzy reality of intoxication. It made her bold. It gave her an excuse to behave badly, and she always took advantage of such excuses. Some vague part of her mind told her to go home and sleep it off, but what did she care?

There were too many goddamn stairs to the shrine. Minako stumbled along them, humming and laughing, always laughing.

"Reiiiii-chan," she sang as she reached the top, looking out at the quiet, deserted building. It was too familiar to seem creepy at night, although some of the darker corners across the property did make her breath catch. But then she was walking swiftly, trying to get to her destination without thinking too hard about what was making her go there. _I'll blame the shrine ghosts_, she thought distantly.

Minako followed the winding path behind the shrine, across the small bridge that hung over a shallow stream, and towards a small cluster of trees that flourished near the back wall. There would be one string of lanterns hanging in a cherry blossom tree and there would be one stubborn girl lying beneath them. Minako knew this to be true.

"Hah!" Minako barked, as she neared Rei, who was indeed, where she had suspected her to be.

Rei instantly shot up, surprised to see her friend standing in the low light near her tree, her eyes gleaming in the darkness. But she wasn't really surprised, was she? Minako was sporting that grin again, that goddamn grin, and she looked like a white light in the shadows.

"What are you doing here?" The miko demanded, drawing up her legs so she sat closed off from the other girl.

"Don't be coy," Minako purred, practically falling as she stumbled towards her best friend. She scooted her body close to Rei, despite her closed posture, and hooked an arm around her shoulder. "You know why I'm here." She said this right up against Rei's neck.

Rei's heart was instantly on fire, racing inside of her ribcage and making it impossible for her to think clearly, to distinguish between the desire that started in the base of her belly and the reasonable objections to Minako's intoxicated state. But she didn't push the obviously drunk Minako away, and instead seemed to slump her shoulder, so Minako's head fit exactly so in the crook of her neck. And she didn't know why Minako was here. She didn't know why her insides were currently up in arms with themselves, firing and flaming her stomach, making it curl up in hiding. She didn't know why this girl, nestled up in her neck could make her feel like falling asleep for the first time all summer long.

"You're drunk," Rei said quietly.

"You should have stopped me while you could have," Minako declared, her breath hitting Rei's skin and making her shiver. Rei knew she was talking about the sake, she could smell it on her breath, but some part of her wished she was talking about them, about being together, about what was going to happen this night.

"I liked your kimono," Minako breathed, running her finger down Rei's now bare arm. How could Minako be so seductive when she wasn't even trying? Or maybe she was trying. Rei refused to think about that and instead focused on her arm, which was still being fingered by the blond. She cursed her choice of clothing, a small tank top and shorts. She would prefer the stuffy, strict kimono to this, with Minako so closed to her. With Minako touching her. With Minako breathing on her.

"You weren't the one who had to wear it," Rei shot back, forcing quick breaths between her lips and out her nose. If Minako wasn't so drunk she probably would have noticed Rei's trembling.

"Well, I liked it," Minako said softly and then a small laugh escaped her lips and Rei felt them pucker against her neck. That goddamn pucker of a laugh.

Suddenly Minako and the warmth she had was gone, as the young blond flattened herself along the bumpy grass, bending her knees so her skirt flew right down her thighs. Rei's eyes darted hungrily there, to the soft skin right where her legs met her hip, and she could see the peak of Minako's underwear between her legs. Rei knew she should have the decency to tell her intoxicated friend that she was showing parts of herself that should remain hidden but instead she found her eyes running up the line of her leg and back down, until she reached the rise and fall of Minako's stomach. Rei imagined her hands there, imagined them under her skirt. Down her legs.

On her knee.

And then just as suddenly, Rei lied down next to her, her breathing now so labored that she felt if she kept on looking at her friend she would suffocate. So she settled on closing her eyes, trying to calm the rush of images that flooded her mind as she did so: Minako's skirt flung up, Rei's head hovering over that soft skin and running her mouth along the cloth of her underwear that she had seen, wetting it with her tongue, her mouth, her teeth...

"Rei-chan?"

Goddamn her.

Goddamn her skirt. Her legs. Her knee.

"Mmm?" Rei murmured, noticing suddenly that their elbows were touching.

"Do you ever fall asleep out here?"

Rei did not tell her that the only time she felt like sleeping was like this, laying next to her, in the soft light of the lanterns over their head, and the warm summer breeze making the air seem sticky and sweet.

"No."

"It's because the ground is too rough," Minako said knowingly, like all of Rei's reasons for not sleeping could be cured with a futon.

"Mmm," Rei responded.

And then she felt Minako move and suddenly the heavy weight of her friend's head was on her stomach. Rei opened her eyes and wished she hadn't. Minako blond hair was spilling over Rei's body, and she saw it moving with the in and exhale of her every breath. Minako's skirt was still bundled near her hips and her lips were puckering again, in that way they did.

"This is much better," she said, and the laughter was laced in her voice, floating high above them into the darkness, out into the thick, summer air. Rei couldn't breathe when she thought about that voice.

And the miko hated Minako for doing this to her. For coming here drunk and in that skirt. She hated Minako for touching her, for laughing, for being solid and heavy on her stomach, making her dizzy with the idea of what could happen if they were this close. But most of all she hated herself—for waiting out here in the dark, knowing Minako would come—for thinking there would be something, anything between them. And especially for reaching down and running her fingers through Minako's hair, playing with the loose ends simply because she wanted to. Rei should know better. She should know better than to succumb to her impulses.

But still she threaded her fingers through her friend's hair, watching in fascination at the way it fell and caught the dim light. And then she was getting bolder with her touches, running them towards her scalp and down onto Minako's face.

Minako's breath hitched somewhere in her throat as she felt Rei touching her. She liked it. She closed her eyes and let the sensation take over her mind, but soon she was imagining much more than Rei's hands in her hair. And what was stopping her? There was no fear of rejection now, when she could feel the quickened pace of Rei's breathing under her head. She knew that Rei was thinking it too, so what did Minako have to lose? Her stomach was doing flips of excitement and she felt herself grinning fearlessly again. As Rei's finger passed across her cheek, Minako turned and bit the offending digit.

Rei froze, her finger in her best friend's mouth, and she felt the wet curve of Minako's tongue on the underside of her finger, while those goddamn perfect teeth clamped down on either side. And then there was the smallest suck from Minako, before releasing Rei's finger into the summer air, now feeling colder than it had before. And Rei knew she should stop it now, before anything else happened, but she still dared to run that slick finger along the rim of Minako's bottom lip, leaving a path of saliva in its wake.

When Rei finally withdrew her hand, her heart hammering in her ears, her breathing becoming more difficult to control, she watched Minako carefully. The blond still sat with her eyes closed, face dimpled with the light from above them. And then her pink tongue swept out of her mouth and along her bottom lip, before folding back into the dark cave of her mouth.

Rei felt something aching inside of her.

_Goddamn her. Goddamn her. GODDAMN HER._

_How dare she lick her lips, the same lips she had just touched with her fingers?_

Rei roughly sat up, pushing her best friend off of her stomach. Minako cried out at the sudden movement but recovered quickly, sitting upright and turning to face Rei. Minako's eyes were questioning, wondering why their comfortable arrangement was being disrupted. They were also filled with the blurriness of too much alcohol, of already starting to forget these moments between them. But Rei couldn't look at her, couldn't stand anything about her dangerous, beautiful, perfect mouth or knee or hair…

"You're drunk. Go home," Rei said sharply before standing up and turning away from her.

"Rei," Minako whimpered.

It was too pathetic. It was too needy. It was too much of everything Rei wanted to give to her but knew she couldn't. It was Minako's goddamn fault for getting drunk and she'd have to deal with the consequences because Rei couldn't deal with them anymore. Not tonight. Not after feasting her eyes along the lines of her legs, not after imaging running her mouth over her knee, not after feeling Minako's tongue on the underside of her finger.

"No," came the curt reply.

_No Minako. No. Let me love you in secret, but don't love me back. Let me hate you for a while. Love me only after dark when I can't love you back. Don't let me._

Then she turned and walked away from her.

**A/N: **

Don't you love the chase?

Should I do a continuation?


	2. Part II

**Only Yours after Dark**

**A/N:**

Okay. I think I've decided to make this into a short 3-chapter story. Stick with me through the chase. You won't be sorry. Please review :3

**Part II**

Rei had imagined Minako lots of places.

She had imagined her in a white dress by the ocean at night, her feet covered in sand like a sugar doughnut. She had imagined her flush and breathless beneath Rei, little splotches of pink crawling up her naked chest and neck. She had imagined her in the dark, her pale skin like a shallow dish of milk that Rei would lap up with her tongue.

She had not imagined her here, in the middle of the day.

Standing before her awkwardly.

Rei was on folded knees in the fire room, organizing a pile of wood into neat stacks up against the wall. The pieces interlocked together, balancing up against the screens, the rest of the room void of anything but the square opening where Rei would consult the fire and a small pillow where she would sit. And Minako had come here, far too early for someone with a hangover, in a blue cotton dress.

Rei could barely look at her.

The miko hadn't slept, but she never did. She kept herself busy all night with chores and anger—mainly anger. And with the stark daylight she was able to see clearly what had happened the other night. There was no question in Rei's mind now, with the chimes of the shrine ringing in the background, with the patter of conversations floating in from down the street. Rei would erase every last minute of that night whether Minako wanted it or not.

What a fool Minako was, to think she could come and seduce Rei here, in the middle of the day.

The blond stood by the door, fingering the soft, yellow paper there. She remembered what had happened in bits and pieces. She remembered Rei's stomach rising and falling faster and faster the closer Minako got to her. She remembered Rei's finger in her mouth. She remembered Rei saying, "No."

And now she was here, forcing Rei to relive every last excruciating minute of it.

The miko kept herself busy with the firewood.

"Busy day at the shrine today?" Minako asked, trying desperately to think of something she could say. Her head was pounding and she wanted to reach out to Rei and never let go of her. She wanted to hit and scream at Rei for ignoring her. She wanted to suck on her finger again. She didn't know what she wanted.

"Mmm," the priestess replied, which wasn't even a reply at all.

"Did you have fun at the festival last night?" the blond continued, daring a glance towards Rei and then quickly adverting her eyes when she saw the miko staring at her.

"Minako—stop."

She fell silent and dropped her hand from the screen, looking anywhere but Rei's face. How could she do this? How could she act so nonchalant like nothing had happened between them when clearly something had? Something wonderful. Something dangerous. Something pleading. Something.

"What did it mean?" Minako said suddenly, looking to Rei. She was finally brave enough to meet the miko head on, or maybe it was the anger, the pleading, the pounding in her head and nothing like bravery at all.

Rei stiffened, darting her gaze quickly to Minako. Her eyes were glittering darkly, daring anyone to bypass them, to forge ahead with the warning buried there. Then she turned back to the wood, taking another piece and placing it gently on top of the others. When Rei spoke, it was carefully, with just the right air of even certainty. "What are you talking about?"

Minako hated her. She hated her. She hated her.

It was easy to be angry with Rei. It was so easy when Minako had actually taken the time this morning to pick out a cotton dress to wear with the intent of enticing her friend. So easy when this wasn't the first time Rei had tried to erase their history. So easy when every time Minako was bold enough to act on an impulse, the priestess hid away behind an unemotional, unresponsive exterior that could so easily break her best friend. How could she do that?

"I'm talking about last night," Minako said bluntly, her eyes flashing with hurt and betrayal. "Or was it someone else I was with and not you?"

Inwardly Rei snarled at the blond who dared to enter her shrine so casually, dressed like a goddamn sex pot and dared to bring up something like that... like THAT... here. In the middle of the day. Outwardly, Rei shrugged, looking away towards the corner of the room. "I wasn't myself. I didn't mean to give you any ideas."

"Any ideas?" Minako's voice had risen.

"Yes."

She could have punched Rei in the face. So visible was Minako's anger that she began pacing, clutching the bottom of her dress into fists, giving Rei a startling view of her best friends legs. Rei immediately turned her eyes away from those tempting limbs, focusing, instead, on the task at hand. Minako tried to say something. She tried twice before stopping herself, clamping her mouth shut with a snap. The words were there, but they were in a furry, tangled mess in her mind, tumbling along the inside of her skull trying to carve out the perfect assault that could hurt Rei as much as she had hurt her. But Minako wasn't as good at arranging words as Rei was. Her arguments would flail in comparison to the composed stoic priestess, who could go on stacking firewood as if that was the only goddamn thing that mattered in the room.

All that seemed to come out of Minako's mouth was one harsh word flung haphazardly, meaninglessly, in Rei's direction.

"Bitch."

Rei tilted an eyebrow at Minako in surprise, but by then she had already swirled around and slammed the screen door shut with a definitely smack. Rei noticed that a small tear had opened in the corner of her screen that Minako had been worrying with her fingers. The priestess stood and tried to smooth the soft, yellow paper. It didn't help. The damage had already been done.

* * *

Rei didn't know why she did this. There was something about Minako's room, and more specifically, her bed.

She had spent many nights next to Minako, over the course of high school and even into college when the girls would get together for a sleepover. Back then, she didn't think too much about what made her crawl over into Minako's bed at night, or what it meant when they woke up together—tangled and comfortable and warm. There was no alternative motive then, in the hazy impulses of adolescence, where their close friendship allowed those kinds of intimacies without question. But now they were older. Minako had let many people into her bed, and not for the same reasons as before. Her bed was no longer something to share between friends but rather, a haven for lovers.

Rei knew if she ever did enter into Minako's bed as an adult it would be different.

It would be more.

Minako was asleep. Of course she was, it was nearly four a.m. and most normal people found sleep an essential part of life. Rei did not. Sleeping had always been an afterthought, thrown in after her mental and physical exhaustion became too much for her body to cope. And now Rei couldn't coax her body into slumber even if she had wanted to. It started this summer, when Minako came back from college for a while, living in that apartment just down the street from the shrine. And Rei could never rest soundly knowing that.

But here she was.

Standing in front of Minako's bed.

Miserable.

And that same feeling that graced her at night was there too, making her gnaw worriedly at her bottom lip.

Rei carefully took a step forward and tested what it would feel like to sit on the edge of her best friend's mattress. It sunk with her weight and so she quickly flattened herself out on her back, willing the mattress to remain undisturbed by her presence. She could feel Minako breathing next to her, and Rei was frozen in terror at what she had started. She should get up and leave immediately, she knew this, but every fiber in her was instead telling her to reach out and stroke Minako's long golden hair. She hated when Minako was mad at her. It was so much easier when she was the one holding the grudge, feeling righteous and fiery in her own right. She was good at being angry. But after two days of no communication, she couldn't stop herself from going and finding Minako. She was unhappy and lonely without her best friend.

Oh god. Her delicious, dangerous scent was everywhere. Minako's warm skin was radiating with it, the orange groves, the summer air... Rei had unnatural urges to start licking her sweet, sticky skin because of it. And consequently Rei was reminded of the cherry blossom tree, since Minako had invaded that secret spot too with the same infuriating scent. Intoxicating. Beautiful. Good enough to eat.

Minako shifted, and Rei snapped alert, forcing her mind not to wander. She became aware of every inch of Minako's body along hers as she inhaled shallowly and let out narrow breaths of air. Minako was only wearing a small shirt and underwear and Rei was acutely focused on the blond vixen's legs, bare and soft pressing up against her side. The miko felt herself reaching out, as if someone other person had control of her limbs, and drawing Minako close to her, so she could get buried into that unusual blond hair. Minako didn't seem to wake, instead turning so she was nuzzled along Rei's front. Then lazily, Minako hooked her leg around her best friend and Rei felt like groaning. It was too good. Too much.

Hadn't they slept together like this so many times before?

But with Rei's secret intentions, with the awareness of Minako's soft, warm body, with the blond nuzzling her face into Rei and Rei letting her—no—welcoming her...It had never been anything like this before when they were teenagers. Nothing like _this._

It was more.

Maybe all the things Rei wanted back then when they were young were the same now. Maybe the only difference now was how badly she wanted it. Maybe after seeing Minako golden in the dim light of their cherry blossom tree, licking her lips and pleading Rei's name was all it took to break the strong priestess.

"I'm sorry," Rei whispered into Minako's hair. It was easy to say when Minako was sleeping, wasn't it? And Rei wanted to say more, she wanted to confess things she had never said out loud before, but she didn't have the words.

Minako could not tell reality from dream-state, since she was still entrapped by the aloofness of slumber, but it didn't matter. This dream was nice, even if it wasn't a dream at all. There was a dark crater of longing that was sitting in between Minako's legs, and the moment she had discovered Rei in her bed, she stopped caring about everything else. She didn't care that she was supposed to be mad with the priestess, shunning her for daring to ignore her in a blue cotton dress. And even if Rei would erase this all in the morning, even if it really was all a dream she could only relive in her mind, she didn't care, didn't care, didn't care...

With delicate fingers, she slid the bottom of Rei's shirt up over her stomach and Rei surprisingly let her lift it from her shoulders. It rolled up along Rei's arms, leaving her naked chest pressed right up along Minako's soft and supple curves, and for one horrifying moment Rei thought her friend would open her eyes, disrupt this guise of sleep and see Rei there, bare, wanting, needing... but then Minako was back, her mouth pressed up in the hallow of Rei's neck.

Rei could continue pretending as long as Minako continued to sleep, even if the blond's hands were now running along Rei's back, hooked just-so in the smallest part of her ribs. Rei could pretend they didn't know what they had been doing. _You were asleep, _she could say. And as long as Minako was asleep, she could be brave.

Rei pressed the front of her pelvis directly up against Minako, squaring them together like a living, breathing yin yang. Minako responded by tightening her legs around their existing tangle, the sheets long ago twisted around their ankles. There was some sort of hot desire that was awakened as Rei pressed herself along Minako, and she moved her hips slightly in experimentation. The woman beside her accommodated the movement by shifting with her.

Minako felt soft. She felt like Rei had imagined her. And the aching, the demand, the desire that Rei normally shoved away was there, feeding into her movements, making her forget what exactly she was doing. She would have let Minako touch her anywhere as long as she kept pretending to sleep, as long as Rei didn't have to confront this in the morning.

But then, quite suddenly, she felt Minako's eyelashes flutter open against her neck.

Rei stiffened and Minako knew of her mistake too late. For one moment they remained tangled up in each other but then Rei sat upright, and Minako followed her, so they both sat side by side. The modest miko pulled the sheets up from their ankles to hide her naked chest and then began instantly hunting for her lost shirt, which had been tossed behind her back on Minako's floor.

"Rei…" Minako started but Rei interrupted her.

"Just stop."

She hastily grabbed her shirt and yanked it over her head before falling still in her movements, embarrassed, ashamed, red with the anger and the humiliation of acting like this with her best friend. Why was she here? Why did she crawl into Minako's bed? Why had Minako let her? It didn't seem to make sense to the priestess now that the pretending was gone.

Minako hated Rei for reacting like this. The miko was the one who had crawled into her bed, not the other way around. It was Rei's fault for being here, but through her best friend's silence and stiff posture, Minako was left feeling like the guilty one. She grabbed Rei's hand and for a moment the priestess let her hold it, but then she pulled it away.

"You can't erase this," Minako said quietly, hoping that it would be true.

Rei didn't speak. She wanted to say she was sorry. She wanted to confess things, but her throat wasn't working. Her heart wasn't working.

"It's something. You can't just keep on telling me it's nothing. That is what you would say, isn't it?" Minako whispered, her voice cracking in the still darkness around them.

Rei turned, and put both of her feet flat on the floor. Minako cursed under her breath. Rei's pulse was quick in her ears and still her breathing was labored and shallow, like she had just gone running a few miles. She felt the hot throbbing desire in the depths of her belly and she knew she could not lie about this only seconds after it had all happened to the two of them. Minako reached out and slid her arm around Rei's waist and Rei let herself lean back, closing her eyes and indulging in the delicious smell, the comfort, the familiarity of their friendship—their—relationship?

Rei was tired. She was always tired.

"It was not nothing," the priestess confessed simply.

_It was more._

**A/N:** One more to go. Come back and you might be rewarded with a smut-treat.

Please review. I want to know if this was worth a continuation or not. Was it better as a one-shot?


	3. Part III

**Only Yours after Dark**

**A/N:** The last installment... maybe. Hopefully it was worth the wait. It's a bit longer than the others…

**Part III**

Three days had passed.

Rei waited in the hallway of Minako's apartment.

Minako answered the door. She was hardly wearing anything at all, save a thin cotton t-shirt that didn't even hide the graceful, ample curves of her breasts. It hung precariously at her thighs, not nearly long enough for Rei's wandering eyes, which again zeroed in on her best friends legs, where they dived into the shadow of her shirt's seam. Rei had meant to come here as a peace offering, to start the slow process of unwinding this—whatever _this_ was—between them. Rei no longer intended to keep pretending. She wanted to define their _whatever_ relationship rationally and cautiously, the only way Rei knew how. But she couldn't fucking focus if Minako was dressed like _that._

"What the hell are you wearing?" Rei spat out, taking a challenging step towards the blond.

And then she heard the male, gruff voice from somewhere in Minako's apartment. Only two words he said, but it was enough to make Rei's skin crawl, to make her forget everything about her original reason for being here.

"Hey, babe!" he called.

Minako winced.

"Hang on!" she hollered, twisting her neck towards the direction of his voice. Towards her bedroom.

But she barely got out her last syllable before Rei had grabbed a hold of her shoulder and slammed her into the wall next to the door. Rei's arm was pressed threateningly into Minako's neck and Rei could feel the graceful, ample curves beneath her, rising and falling to meet Rei's own ragged breathing. She hated her. She hated her for being with _some_ guy only three days after lifting the shirt off of Rei's back, only three days after making Rei confess that there was something between them. Rei had spent the time trying to organize her feelings for her friend and Minako had spent them...

Fucking?!

Her anger was filling the space between them, making their breathing elevated, the heat between them pressing in from all angles like it might ignite the air in the doorway. Minako felt automatically defensive towards her friend, pinned under her intense gaze and heavy arm.

"Found another bastard to satisfy your longings?" Rei managed hoarsely, her voice coarse and dark, like some living animal was crouching in her throat. Rei had known about Minako's many lovers, but never like this. Not like _this._

Minako's eyes narrowed coolly at Rei's rash judgments.

"It's not my goddamn fault you're a coward," Minako bit out, baring those perfect teeth.

It was a low blow, but Minako was feeling low enough for it. As far as Minako knew, they weren't _supposed_ to acknowledge their nights together. When morning came, it was erased, even if the blond usually resisted it. But now Rei was here acting like a goddamn jealous _girlfriend_? Minako had waited too many fucking years for Rei to respond. How many times? How many times had Rei yielded a small amount and then gone running in the opposite direction? How was Minako supposed to know that this time was going to be different?

Rei felt herself closing the space between their mouths, stopping just short of allowing them to touch. Her lips were quivering with the anticipation of dipping to meet that jeering pout, that enticing dark cave that had haunted Rei's dreams. She wanted to prove Minako wrong. She wanted to show her that she wasn't a coward. But she was. She would never take away those few centimeters between them and Minako knew it even before Rei did.

"Well, if I had known all you wanted was a meaningless, forgotten_ fuck_—" Rei started quietly, taking the time to speak in that low, deliberate voice. Her crude choice of words sent a lightning bolt right down to Minako's skivvies. "—I would have stepped out of the way long ago."

"As if you weren't thinking about it," Minako barked, shoving against her friend so she was finally free of her oppressive arm, of that shaking, shallow breathing right up against her lips. The blackness in Rei's voice was making Minako's heart pound rapidly; she was having trouble thinking straight. "Stop trying to deny it. You wanted me that night. You might even want me now—"

"You don't know one goddamn thing about what I want!" Rei yelled suddenly, the change in volume startling the blond.

It took a few beats for Minako to recover. "I do know," she declared finally, closing the space between them once again, and Rei felt herself backing up, trying to get away from the overwhelming scent, the dangerous...wonderful... feeling of Minako so close to her. Minako wasn't thinking anymore. They had moved beyond the unspoken rule between them. They were wandering into unchartered territory and Minako's mouth was ready to backlash for all the years of rejection from the miko. "I'm pretty sure when you crawled into my bed I knew exactly what you wanted..."

"Stop!" Rei said sharply, her lips curling up into a snarl.

It was another warning. The priestess was filled with them. But this one was angrier, more disgusted, and more spiteful than Minako had ever heard before. And why… why did it hurt so much to hear that much anger in Rei's voice?

Minako's head fell suddenly, her stomach sinking somewhere down her legs. She stood examining her bare feet along the wooden floors, refusing to submit to the suffocating feeling that indicated she wanted to cry. Her toe nail polish was chipped. It was ugly. Minako felt ugly. She knew she was going too far. She knew she was pushing at Rei in all the wrong ways. She knew broaching this topic could ruin their friendship more than any secret, sweaty night between the sheets had in the past. She knew erasing their moments together was safer, easier, better.

But she was hurt. She was lonely. She had some stupid, fucking guy lying in her bed naked. She didn't know what she wanted anymore.

And now she was broken. Rei had broken her. Rei's warnings alone could break her.

"I think about you," the blond confessed suddenly. Her voice was quiet and small, not like anything Rei had heard coming from Minako's lips before.

_Minako's lips._

Rei couldn't breathe. It was too much. Too much.

"Don't—" Rei started, warning again. Her tone was dark, implying something ominous if Minako dared to speak. But Minako had always been the one dodging the miko's warnings in that delicate way she did, and this time was no exception.

"I—want to." That same, small voice. Was it whimpering? Was it really broken? "I want to... with you."

Rei swallowed, refusing to indulge in the idea of Minako asking her, pleading with her for something. For THAT. There was a dark desire wrestling inside of the strong priestess. It was going to come crawling out of her mouth any minute if she didn't get out of there fast enough.

"You can't possibly," Rei offered incredulously, taking another step away from her friend. She was getting more and more distant the longer Minako's request sunk in.

There was silence. There was breathing. There was the sound of a man in Minako's apartment. There was rightness and wrongness and all the moments that had created them. There were too many things left unsaid. There was something. Something there. Something between them. Something pleading.

"You don't know what you are asking for," Rei said roughly, turning to leave. Rei knew. Rei knew the limit of her heart. She knew exactly what Minako was asking for and Rei knew that she would give it her if she merely batted an eyelash. If she ever let herself, she would love Minako, yes, really love her. But would Minako ever be able to settle down long enough to love her back?

"I do know," Minako called out, as Rei started walking swiftly away from her. "I know what I'm asking for! Stop being such a _fucking coward_!" And her voice was still broken, it was pleading, it was filled with hope that Rei refused to acknowledge.

But the priestess was already down the hall, outrunning her humiliation, her temptation, her anger... but mainly she was running away from the answer that was screaming to get out of her, wrestling at the base of her stomach and slowly working its way up her throat, until it would escape between her trembling lips.

_Yes. Minako, yes. Let me. Let me love you. Let me have you just this once. Let me love you after dark even if you'll never love me back. _

* * *

Minako was waiting.

The soft light of the cherry blossom tree was creating interesting shadows along the ground. Branches reaching for her toes, crawling up her bare legs all in the flat shapes of casted light, and she imagined a time when Rei's shadow would hover over her, mingling with them. She imagined a time when Rei would be always inviting, when they could get tangled up together and laugh about it, when harsh words would be forgotten and blend into the comfortable nature of real love.

Real love.

Maybe they were never meant to be in love, Minako thought. They shared the hauntings of the battlefield together, the kind only true comrades in war could. They had been friends for almost ten years now, faced death and darkness and even high school exams together, and never once had they uttered the intimate words to one another. Their companionship always seemed to be a silent one, an unspoken bond that you couldn't put into words without ruining it. Maybe Rei's indifference and rejections were what made it all interesting, and Minako would wreck it all if she ever found out just how deeply the priestess cared. And wasn't that the point of Minako's strategies when it came to love anyway? She kept things on the surface because diving too deep was a sign of submission. She couldn't think about love seriously, it was a topic she skirted around for the fun of it. She had given her heart to them all, it seemed, every last one of them—from the pop stars to the college boys—but never seriously. And Rei just wouldn't take her heart unless it was done on purpose. It had to mean something to the priestess.

Minako checked her watch.

She tried to tell herself it was pointless of her to wait. Rei hadn't come the first night, and she probably wouldn't come the second or the third. And yet here she was, waiting all the same. She knew if anything would happen between the two of them, it would happen here, under their cherry blossom tree.

Where it had all started falling apart after dark.

Suddenly she heard the crunch of grass from out in the darkness and Minako's heart was already beating in her ears. The priestess emerged from the shadows and stood just on the boundary where the light reached her feet. They remained in opposition for a moment, and the ambiguous nature of the miko's gaze made her look like she had wandered here by mistake.

Somehow, Minako found her voice, dry and rattled as it was, to speak to the dark beauty standing in the dim light.

"You came," she said, tossing her a lighthearted smile despite the turmoil in her stomach.

Rei finally came to sit down next to Minako, like she had hundreds of times before, and stretched her legs out in front of her.

"I couldn't sleep," was her only reply.

Minako knew better than that. Rei never slept. She came because she knew Minako would be waiting for her. A weak moment, perhaps, and Minako wasn't going to let it pass.

"You've been hiding from me," Minako said quietly, landing her hand onto Rei's knee.

The miko's eyes darted there, narrowing in anger. It was too soon for this, none of Rei's defenses were up yet. And the blond knew her too well. She was pinning her down to the earth so she wouldn't run away, by the heavy, heated weight of her hand. It was enough to smother the priestess into the ground and Minako knew it.

"I don't have to answer to you," Rei snipped, refusing to look towards her friend. But Minako was looking at Rei quite carefully. She was studying the set in her jaw, the dark strands of hair that fell near her ear. She was studying her neck especially, that long slender line that ran down into the opening of her shirt. It moved with her breathing, perched in just the right position for Minako to dart into the space between head and shoulder…

In a sudden rush, Minako put away her objections and turned so her lips were right up against Rei's neck. Rei instantly stiffened underneath the soft folds of her mouth, and Minako smiled against her skin, feeling braver, somehow, by the miko's reaction. Then she sampled that same spot with her tongue, tasting the sweet skin hidden in that shallow alcove. It smelled and tasted just as Rei always did. And once she had a small section of her neck, Minako wanted more. She started a trail of light, suckled kisses down across miko's skin. It was lovely. It was sexy. It was making Rei feel like she might scream and slam the blond into the ground in response. Rei's pulse was quick, rapidly pounding in the vein in her neck and Minako felt herself become hungry for it, biting quite fiercely over that beating spot.

"What are you doing?" Rei hissed, angry at her for making her body react like this, for seducing her quite plainly like it was her only intention. And wasn't it? Rei knew Minako would be there, and she knew what she wanted. Yet Rei had still left the shrine that night, following some inner impulse that she didn't want to identify. It was dark. It was greedy. It was begging her to give in.

Rei tried again. "What the HELL are you doing?"

When Minako's only response was to continue with her kisses, spreading fire across the miko's skin, Rei snapped.

One arm shot up to hook angrily at the base of Minako's head, yanking on the hair that was there. Minako's warm mouth was pulled away from Rei's skin in a tiny, startled yelp and her gaze met the angry stare of the miko. Rei was surprised with the look in Minako's navy eyes. They were asking her. They were hopeful.

Rei's stomach seemed to disappear.

"I didn't come here for that," Rei said gruffly.

"You did."

A moment of hesitation passed between them.

"I didn't."

They sat there for a while longer in silence, the miko's hand still threaded tightly into the blond's hair, forcing Minako's neck at an awkward angle. But it was beautiful too, _how was she always so beautiful?_ And the priestess thought about diving down to bite her friend like Minako had done to her. She wanted to.

Rei realized quite suddenly that her friend's hand was still on her knee.

Disgusted with herself, she let go of Minako's hair, and turned away from her, staring rather blankly down at her knee, which was being invaded by that heavy touch. She wanted to knock it off, she wanted to be ridded of her infuriating presence and all the dangerous, wonderful things that came from it. But tonight… Tonight the miko was weak. Maybe it was the lack of sleep. Maybe it was her confession while sitting in Minako's bed. Maybe it was knowing a man had been in that same bed only days later. Maybe it was too many goddamn years of being tempted and taunted by the smell of orange groves.

Maybe it was her love for Minako.

The love she could never say out loud or show to her friend.

It made her weak.

It made her a coward.

Lucky for them both that Minako was brave. "Don't you like my mouth?" Minako chanced, smiling wickedly at her friend.

_That goddamn perfect mouth with that goddamn pucker when she's trying not to laugh._

"It's worthless," Rei snapped.

Minako's lips quirked once before coming down more harshly onto Rei's neck and continuing down to her collarbone. The priestess closed her eyes tightly, willing her friend to stop.

"Minako—" she mumbled. Rei's voice was blocked, like a sleeping giant was going to awaken and come roaring out of her lips at any moment. She was struggling under her best friend's assault. "You can't—"

Minako wasn't listening. She never listened.

When Rei opened her eyes she saw that Minako had crawled over, so she was hovering above her on all fours, her left hand still firmly on the miko's knee. Rei felt her head rolling back, unable to look at her friend in such a position without losing complete control. By doing so, she exposed more of her neck for Minako to run her tongue over and Rei couldn't help but groan at the feeling of that hot, wet cave touching her sensitive throat.

Rei tried one last time to stop the vixen from taking her ability to think by saying her name once, twice, three times. But it seemed to only fuel Minako's wandering lips, which began to travel farther down to the rim of Rei's shirt. Minako nudged her nose along the seam of the miko's shirt, and Rei's breathing became wide and deep, subconsciously rising to meet Minako's lips. And as her mouth worked its way down, now running lightly over her shirt, and the taunt, rounded nipple that showed through the fabric, Rei felt like she might pass out from the heat that was invading every inch of her body. Rei felt resentful towards the blond for turning her into this creature of impulse and desire but she couldn't help but submit to it, to worship this creature that could spark such interesting sensations in her.

Her desire was mounting, every time she chanced a glance towards the blond she felt a surge of adrenaline spike through her entire body, and now that mouth, _that goddamn mouth_, it wouldn't stop, it wouldn't slow down and a part of her was saying _just go for it, it's too late now you can't stop this_ and Rei could hardly breathe as she felt those light touches across skin and shirt and nipple… And these clothes… These clothes were like cages they were suffocating her and if Minako didn't turn and kiss Rei full on the mouth the miko was going to scream.

She felt a primal, frustrated growl start in the base of her throat.

She saw Minako's eyes flick upward, a smile hidden on her lips.

_How dare she smile with those lips, those goddamn perfect lips?_

The priestess had reached her limit.

In one, swift movement, Rei grabbed a hold of both of Minako's shoulders and swung her downwards, so her back was pressed firmly into the hard earth underneath them. Minako landed rather roughly and all the air seemed to escape out of her lungs on impact. Rei pinned her there, eyes narrowed dangerously and heated with something that made Minako's stomach do a flip, her breathing irregular as she tried to catch her breath from the sudden movement.

"If you are going to kiss me, Mina, then _kiss me_," Rei snapped, brutally bringing her mouth down to Minako's lips, which instantly parted to let Rei's wet tongue curl up into her mouth. Minako was surprised, in part, that the priestess had taken such a bold move. She had always considered Rei to be inexperienced in the ways of physical intimacies, even kissing, but the miko's lips were fierce and demanding, like Rei herself. Perhaps it was in the miko's nature to be physical. Her instincts seemed to lead her in everything she did, and why should this be an exception? But Minako couldn't think anymore, her reasoning and understanding of the girl on top of her vanished as things became more muddled in the exquisite unravel happening between them.

Her head was spinning.

Rei's hand left Minako's shoulder and instantly found the bare skin at her thigh, given the blond's insistence on wearing short, unpractical things. She ran her fingers along the soft skin there, feeling overwhelmed with the sensation of doing something she had fantasized about only days before. Not only was Minako letting her, she was encouraging her, opening up her legs so that unreachable, exotic spot under her skirt was accessible to Rei. And Rei wanted it. She wanted to touch her there. She wanted to lick her. She wanted to take her again and again and listen to her moan Rei's name.

Now that one arm was free of the oppressive weight of the priestess, Minako wasted no time in reaching around to slide the base of Rei's shirt up her stomach, like she had the night before. Rei shivered under Minako's fingers, pausing her own pursuits for a moment to indulge in Minako's soft touches. But it seemed to only fuel her hunger more as Rei hurriedly reached up Minako's skirt, skimming over her thighs and hips and then landing on that soft, wet spot she craved. She felt Minako sort of purr into her mouth, making Rei tremble at the idea of what she was doing.

She was touching Minako.

She was going to smother her.

She was going to eat her up.

After so many years, after so many rejections of this one thing, after never facing each other head on... Rei was going to take Minako. And she was going to make her do it on purpose.

Just as suddenly as it had started, the warmth and fire engaging her mouth and body was gone, and Minako's eyes fluttered open. The two women were breathless, heavy puffs of air escaping from both their lips. Minako found Rei over her, her dark hair falling along the slope of her shoulders, its ends reaching the grass underneath them. More striking, however, were her eyes. It was as if her gaze was filled with black coals burning in the dark, penetrating the blond under her grasp, striping every ounce of the confidence she had displayed earlier in her pursuit of the miko. It wasn't just the fire in her eyes making Minako uneasy, it was the anger buried there. She was angry at Minako for creating this creature of desire inside of her. Angry at herself. Angry at their secret spot under the cherry tree that housed too many intimacies—of Rei breaking—of Rei giving in. She knew what she wanted from the blond, she had wanted it all along, but she had never been brave enough to ask for it.

Until now.

"I want to hear it," Rei said, her voice low and dangerous.

"Hear what?" Minako asked, bewildered. She started to sit upright.

The miko pushed Minako back towards the ground, keeping her pinned with one arm while the other remained under her skirt. Minako's mind was filling with questions and desires, the ache between her legs fueling a type of desperate need she had never felt before. She felt like she would do anything the priestess asked if she just said it in that voice.

"One word, Minako." Low and dark, like an animal. Like midnight. Like secrets hidden after dark.

"I—what do you want me to say?"

Rei dropped her head, so her mouth closed in upon the shell of Minako's ear. Hot, heavy burst of air threaded down into Minako's skin, plummeting right down to her stomach. She wanted to reach up and bite the miko's cheek, the corner of her lip, her neck and mouth. Her nerves were singing, her breathing was shot.

"Say please, Mina." That voice. That rumble. It made Minako feel like she was diving off a cliff.

"Rei?" she whispered shakily, her voice barely audible.

"Say please," she repeated steadily. It was Rei's only command. She couldn't explain exactly what made her want it. She needed Minako's submission now—a sign that it wasn't a careless mistake, that it meant something to the blond. She wanted it to be on purpose. She wanted Minako to be pleading with her. For something. Something between them.

There was a moment of silence, with only their heavy breathing under the cherry blossom tree.

Then it was said quietly and unevenly, laced with longing.

"Please."

It was said in that voice, that same, small and broken voice that Rei recognized from the day earlier.

_Please._

It was said by Minako for Rei to hear.

Rei and only Rei.

_Please._

And again the miko felt that hot spot of desire start to course through her. Minako—her Minako—pleading with her. Asking her for something. Something that only Rei could give her. All the while her fingers remained under Minako's skirt, pressed into her intimately, damp and sticky from Minako's own desires, from the sensations that Rei had given to her.

"Oh God," Minako whispered, shutting her eyes, taking in a shallow breath.

She was out of control. The miko had broken her. She had asked for the one thing Minako had never given to anyone, at least never seriously. This was too serious. Too deep. Too much said after dark. And she was scared of it. Of this.

_Please._

_Please don't let me._

_Please don't hurt me._

_Please love me._

_Please._

"Rei."

It was a sob. It was a submission. It was so much more.

"Please."

**A/N: **Not the smuttiest of smut treats, I know. Hopefully it was hot enough for you. I'm reluctant to come to any resolution between these two girls… but I know that's probably what you are craving, right?

I'm considering doing one more chapter, to try and tie things up (even though I hate tying things up). But I just don't know. I kind of like ending things with this unknown—Minako finally giving her heart to Rei and Rei finally submitting to Minako's desires.

You tell me, dear readers, with a review.


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